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Application . Acid scarification of hardseeded legumes is an effective way to remove seed coat dormancy of black locust and honeylocust, but acid is too costly or unavailable in many locations. For small nurseries, hot water soaks, nicking, or burning should be suitable, while the latter two methods might be too labor-intensive for larger nurseries .Abstract . Twenty different methods of seedcoat scarification were tested on Gleditsia triacanthos L. and Robinia pseudoacacia L. to find an alternative to acid scarification for these species . For germination testing, nicking or burning were best, and these same methods could be used in small nurseries with adequate labor . For larger quantities, hot water soaks or heat shock soak treatments yielded satisfactory, though lower, germination .

White rust (Albugo candida) is a highly destructive disease of oilseed Brassicas such as Brassica juncea and B. rapa. Most commercial B. juncea or B. rapa varieties are highly susceptible and yield losses from combined infection of leaves and inflorescences can be up to 20% or 60% in Australia and India, respectively. In Australia, canola-quality B. juncea has been developed to extend oilseed Brassica production into lower rainfall areas, with the first commercial B. juncea canola-quality variety planned for release in 2006. It is essential to identify useful sources of host resistance in B. juncea as breeding and/or selection of material for resistance is the most cost-effective method of delivering control for farmers. Three experiments were undertaken under controlled-environmental conditions to identify the best methods of characterising host resistance and to identify sources of resistance in B. juncea germplasm from Australia, China, and India. Forty-four B. juncea genotypes, viz. 22 from India, 12 from Australia, and 10 from China, were tested. Four Chinese genotypes (CBJ-001, CBJ-002, CBJ-003, CBJ-004) and one Australian genotype (JR049) consistently showed high resistance to A. candida across the different plant growth stages against a pathotype prevailing in Australia. Similarly, the most susceptible genotypes (viz. Indian genotypes RH781, RL1359, RH819) were extremely susceptible irrespective of the plant growth stage. Overall, although disease severity on cotyledons and leaves at the different growth stages was significantly and positively correlated, there was, however, no significant correlation between the number of stagheads and any of the other disease parameters measured. Our study demonstrates that controlled-environmental conditions are suitable for rapid identification of resistant genotypes and that genotypes with high levels of resistance can be reliably identified at the cotyledonary, seedling, or flowering stages.

This paper discusses synthesis and characterization of (i) rice husk based nanosilica, (ii) nanosilica carbon composite granules and (iii) phosphoric acid activated ash silica. These have been produced by burning husk in air, charring husk in hydrogen and activating husk silica with H3PO4 respectively. X-ray diffraction studies of these products reveal increasing peak width (amorphosity) with decreasing burning temperature. The activated rice husk silica transforms to crystalline product when burnt above 1000 ºC. The variation of surface area and pore volume with burning temperature show different behavior for air fired and hydrogen charred products. Activation energy associated with change in surface area for air fired and hydrogen charred samples have also been studied. Rate of variation in surface area with temperature indicate different trend. The validations of these products have been evaluated by decolorizing capacity of standard molasses and iodine solution. The adsorptive powers of these products have been found to be highest for activated silica and lowest for hydrogenated ash.

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